8 primary head coaching targets for the Carolina Panthers in 2023
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers should target DeMeco Ryans
The Carolina Panthers got a good example of what DeMeco Ryans could bring to the organization when the San Francisco 49ers and their No. 1 ranked defense came to town and piled more misery on head coach Matt Rhule in Week 5.
Ryans is another rising up the coaching ranks following a successful playing career spanning 10 seasons. The former linebacker attained two Pro Bowls and won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2006, which is something that players are known to naturally gravitate towards.
San Francisco has been cooking defensively so far in 2022. Ryans is the mastermind behind it all and it would be a huge shock if he wasn’t a head coach somewhere in 2023.
This is someone the Panthers should take a keen interest in if David Tepper ends his Rhule experiment after three seasons. Ryans is focused and driven, comes with proven NFL credentials, and is exactly what Carolina is desperate for after so much underachievement.
Again, the Panthers wouldn’t be the only team examining Ryans’ credentials. It’s a possibility he has his pick of a few organizations given the ever-building momentum, which might leave Carolina on the outside looking in depending on the contract Tepper would offer in this situation.
Tepper drew the ire of other owners when he handed Rhule a seven-year, $62 million deal. But that will not stop him from giving out big bucks once again to secure his desired target.